KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A teacher at Plaza Middle School in the Park Hill School District is charged in federal court with two counts of child sex crimes.
Richard Villigram, 43, of Kansas City, is charged with one count of attempted use of interstate facility to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and one count of attempted receipt of child pornography, according to a news release from the United States Attorney's Office in Kansas City, Missouri.
Law officers arrested Villigram Tuesday after he went to the location he arranged to meet the minor to engage in sexual conduct, the news release states.
Villigram had been in online communications with an undercover officer posing online as a 15-year-old. Villigram allegedly worked out a time and place to meet what he thought was a teenager, and also asked for the alleged teen to send him pornographic images.
A search of Villigram's cell phone revealed the text messages to the undercover officer and messages to a third person that he was trying to meet someone for sex, according to the news release.
He has a detention hearing in federal court on April 27.
KSHB 41 News reached out to the Park Hill School District for a statement on Villigram's employment with the district.
"We are aware of these charges and we are working with our law enforcement partners to learn more," according to the district statement. "We’ll be following all applicable laws and policies along the way; this includes taking prompt steps to make sure our priorities of safety and trust are intact. As we know more and can share more, we’ll do so."
KSHB 41 News also asked the district if Villigram was still employed with the district as a middle school teacher.
"We are still working through our policies and processes,'' according to the district statement.
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